What if you feel betrayed by your union's leadership?
I find myself asking that question right now as the result of reading an op ed in today's USA Today. It has the title Column: 3 ways to improve the USA's teacher, and it is jointly written by Dennis Van Roekel, national President of the National Education Union, the teachers union for which I am a building representative, and Wendy Kopp, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Teach for America (TFA -USA Today incorrectly identifies that organization as "Teach for All").
Let me offer just one part of the piece which I find unbelievable:
One in three K-12 students will be assigned a teacher who is in the first three years of his or her career. As a new generation embarks on a career in teaching, we must commit to giving them the best preparation possible.
And yet, those who TFA recruits only commit to 2 years of teaching, which contributes to the turnover of the teaching corps in schools in which they work. As bad as that may be, I fail to see how a commitment to giving new teachers "the best preparation possible" is in accord with the practice of TFA taking its applicants - who may be outstanding students from elite colleges and universities - giving them only 5 weeks of training, with no